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The Kappa In Japanese Folklore

Kappas are legendary creatures that inhabit the rivers and waterways of Japan. They have beaked noses, shells on their back and a depression on their heads that holds water. Kappa are mischievous troublemakers. Their pranks range from the relatively innocent, such as loudly passing gas or looking up women's kimonos, to the more troublesome such as drowning swimmers and eating children. They feed on their victims by sucking their liver though their anus. They love cucumbers and if you write your name on a cucumber and throw it in the river, the kappa may be appeased by your gift and allow you to swim in peace.

November 02, 2007

Teruterubozu

I made this little teruterubozu after seeing a similar one in an issue of Cotton Time

A teruterubozou is a Japanese charm made of paper or cloth, it's hung from a window to bring sunny weather. Teru is a Japanese verb which describes sunshine, and bozu is a Buddhist monk. The charm can also be hung upside down to bring rainy weather--there is a lovely movie called Ima, ai ni yukimasu (Be With You) a little boy receives a visit from a mysterious woman he believes is his mother--despite the fact that she died a year earlier. Because of a picture book his mother left him, he realizes the woman will return to "The Archive Store" when the rainy season ends so he hangs dozens of upside-down teruterubozu around the outside of the house, in hopes of prolonging the rain.

If you watch anime or Japanese doramas, you may spot these little charms, westerners sometimes think they are meant to be ghosts.